DAY 138 : November 22/22 Tuesday. Yuma, AZ to Desert Springs, CA

Good morning from Yuma!

The kids and grandparents enjoyed their complimentary breakfast of waffles and yogurt and eggs. 

Meanwhile, Jonathan and I were in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel doing another clean up of the juice-tastrophe from the night before, haha. 

We hit the road around 10am for the Hwy #8 west. I tried to snap a pic of the "Welcome to California" sign as we whizzed by... see below! Google also alerts us and welcomes us to each new state. Kinda fun.

We could see a California inspection station on the opposite side of the road, and also drove past the CHiPs (California Highway Patrol -- anyone remember that awesome show from the '80's?!!). 

 

We drove by lots of green fields which we presumed were Spinach. We crossed the time zone line and so now it was only 9am! This messes us up a bit on this west side of the country. Covering lots of ground and changing time zones at the same time. We passed some sand dunes, very neat. Then decided a pit stop was needed and took Exit 116 at 10am California time to stop in El Centro, CA for a playground stop just 2 minutes off the highway. I'm getting decent at finding playgrounds to visit en route! Beside the playground/neighbourhood there was a large facility that had SO MUCH HAY covered up in tarps... like miles of it with 1000's of bales stored. Strange. 

The playground was fun and an easy stop for a snack and a stretch. Kids played on the playground and we walked a few laps around the park, and tested our strength and agility on the exercise equipment. After a half hour of intense play and activity, we were back on the road and ended up on the Juan Batista de Anza National Trail (route). 

At 11:30am we drove through another check point and took Hwy 86 North up the SW side of the Salton Sea. Passed 1000's of Date Palms.. row upon row upon row. It's definitely been interesting to see these different "crops" of things we buy at the store without really thinking of where they are grown... dates, spinach, pistachios...

Around 12:15pm we needed to stop for some lunch. Jonathan pulled out at a small rural road beside the highway so the kids could get out and stretch legs and we could make a snack of mango, cheese and crackers platter. The kids and I got out and saw a family walking their little ADORABLE little puppies!! an 8 week old pug puppy and a 2 year old malti-poo. Super cute! We got to pet them... Amelia was enamoured with the tiny pug. It was so cute and tiny!!!

Our stop was only about half an hour and we were back driving past date palms and spinach again. By the time we were headed on the I-10 we were passing quarries. Lots of whoops in the road like a roller coaster! very roll-y and undulating roads through the Coachella Valley and rocky desert.

By 1:30pm we were rolling into the Palm Springs KOA campground. We asked at the office where a good spot would be for booking a motel for mum and dad. The ladies at the front desk were soooo lovely. The said the only place they could recommend would be the Aqua Soleil in Desert Springs (about a 10min drive)... the other motels should be avoided, haha. With that recommendation, we looked at the place online and it looked pretty funky and modern and had a lovely spa and mineral pools, AND it was a decent price! So we booked them a room right away and then got down to the business of enjoying the perks of the KOA. 

Ollie and Papa played some mini-golf around the grounds, Amelia and Grandma had worked on some beautiful artwork together with a shared "taking turns" drawing. We made some gin and tonic refreshments and hung out at the campsite. Jonathan, Amelia and Ollie did some wood-burning with the magnifying glass. I managed to get some laundry through... ooh joy.

By 3:30pm Jonathan and Amelia had gone to the swimming pool for some fun. It was a big rectangular pool surrounded by rooms with recreational stuff like pool tables and games rooms. They also had three awesome hot tubs of different temperatures. We all ended up in the pool and hot tubs around dinner time when the crowds had left. The pool and the spas were all piped in mineral water from the springs. It was AWESOME!!  I managed to shuffle laundry around the two facilities as machines became available (there was one by our campsite and one by the pool). 

by 4:30pm it was getting dark and we all went back to the rig for a yummy sausage/mashed potato/veg dinner...mmmmmmmmmm. 

7pm I drove mum and dad to the Aqua Soleil Hotel and Spa a short drive away in Desert Springs. The reception desk was funky and modern... very minimalist. The room was simple and modern and clean and they had a nice stay.

 

DAY 137 : November 21/22 Monday. Organ Pipe, AZ to Yuma, AZ

True to his word, Jonathan set his alarm for 6:30am (his phone had fallen underneath the dinette bed behind the suitcases and was a bit of a challenge to find and turn off!). Papa, Jonathan, Ollie and I got dressed in cozy layers and ventured out (puffy eyed) for a sunrise walk. Amelia and Grandma chose to stay tucked into bed. 

We set off on the Desert View Loop (3.5km trail) that started and ended from the other end of our campground. At the start of the trail we saw a black-tailed rabbit, and a little cottontail! super cute! I liked seeing the blacktailed hare, as it's on quite a few postcards and images (including a shirt I almost bought in Big Bend). They have the hugest back feet!

 

 

The four of us enjoyed the desert view trail and seeing the sun come up over the desert landscape. Hard to capture the golden light, but it was really cool.  (and chilly!!! ollie was a bit cold in just a hoody) When we got back we had coffee and oatmeals. Amelia had been showing Grandma her various board games she has been creating on this trip. We all went for little walks around the campground (SO many sites!!) and enjoyed the morning light and sunshine, then came back for second breakfast and feasted on pancakes made by Jonathan. 

 

When it was time to pack up and go, Oliver and Amelia brought the slide in, and Ollie started up the rig and took us off the blocks! Jonathan drove us out and dumped the sani before leaving the campground and we were on the road around 11:15am. We had a long day of driving ahead of us to reach Yuma, AZ.

 

by 1:15pm we had reached another Border Patrol check point and this time they stopped us and asked how  many people we had inside, but no further questions. 

We reached Dateland, AZ around 2:30pm and pulled into a gas station that had a convenience store and gift shop inside. They also had a little pizza fast food service in the back so I ordered some pizzas for the kids and I, and Jonathan made a few wraps for lunch. They had some nice stuff in the gift shop and I bought myself a pair of "Lazy One" pj lounge shorts with cactus print design. (I love them). 

By 4pm we were at the Wingate Hotel in YUMA, AZ and booked Mum and Dad a room for the night. They boasted a pool, but when we got into the room and sorted, it turns out the pool was freezing cold. Like, not a chance of swimming in it, cold. Disappointing, but not a game changer. We all had showers (take advantage of shower facilities when on the road! haha). Kids got settled into watching some TV and relaxing and Jonathan and I decided to drive over to WalMart and get groceries and that we'd bring up some greek pasta salad for dinner after. 

 

Jonathan and I drove through Yuma to the Walmart (Yuma is pretty with the sunset and palm trees, but not a lot else appealing about it). We got supplies at walmart and as we were driving back, as Jonathan turned a corner, we had a JUICE-TASTROPHE!! The fridge door wasn't secured closed properly (this is VERY important in an RV) and it had swung open as we turned the corner and a FULL new 2L of orange juice flew out of the fridge and landed on the floor breaking and popping the lid off and splashing and pouring orange juice all over the cupboard and floor! Ack!!! I leapt up in a panic (shouting expletives) as poor Jonathan tried to drive safely to find somewhere to pull over. As he drove, the juice just kept flowing like a river down the centre of the RV as I threw towels and teatowels on it to try and stop if from reaching the carpet areas. Yuck. We got it contained and continued to drive to find a gas station to fill up before we went back to the hotel. As we were driving there, the broom fell out from behind the driver's seat and smacked me right in the side of the face! oh man. 

Got fueled up and headed back to the hotel, where we parked at the neighbouring Cracker Barrel (convenient!!) and finished cleaning up the mess and preparing some greek pasta salad for taking over to the hotel room for dinner by 8pm. 

After our late dinner, the kids tucked into bed at the hotel with Gma and Papa, and Jonathan and I walked across the parking lot to our home on wheels at the Cracker Barrel for the night!